Zeon
Zeon is a kingdom within the Dagarian Empire. Its current leader is Char Aznable. Policy Marriage and Gender Roles: As default, though marriage is somewhat less socially required in Zeon. Char himself openly keeps one of his admirals as a mistress. Honor: Honor is valued, especially by Zeon's rather haughty seafaring nobility, but by its isolated and war-torn nature Zeon understands the need to be pragmatic, and they are also not as religious as many other nations. Roles: Zeon is a militaristic society with roots in seaborne raiding clans; Commanders and Engineers (especially navy and cavalry leaders) thus have a high degree of favoritism. Law: Zeon is famously lax in its laws against piracy, property theft, and vice offenses, and magistrates generally settle claims brought before them by citizens rather than relying on a police force. If a police force is needed, military units are dispatched to violently discourage criminals. Char also taxes by decree and fiat through a small central bureaucracy, as he's found that keeping his military and his population fed on mostly imported food requires a degree of micromanagement. Peasants and Commoners: Char highly values the common man, and instructs his vassals to do so as well. He knows better than perhaps any monarch that it's the patriotic zeal of the common people that props him up and keeps his military's morale and membership at acceptable levels. His charisma is also such that it's easier for him to be loved than feared, by commoner and soldier alike. Money: The poverty following years of war, and the necessity of much of the islands being taken up by farmland rather than cities, means that barter is more common than coin sales in Zeon, and Char collects most of his taxes in grains or other crops, or ores taxed directly from mines. In the port cities, however, standard Imperial money is more than welcome, and Char himself has a notable personal wealth of gold from his soldiering days. Other: Char calls up at least one major lord's feudal obligations and conscripts a selection of its bourgeois populace annually to fulfill Zeon's obligations as a Riftguard. Military service is considered an honor by all but the most recalcitrant. Noble lines tend to maintain warships as well as horses due to Zeon's ancient history as sea raiders, and feudal lords provide a large part of Zeon's famed navy, though commoners (usually wealthy professional soldiers) are also grudgingly allowed as officers in both the navy and army. Cities and Important Sites Rishiri - Zeon's largest city and current most important port, situated on the main island of Tsuwano. Craftsmen of all types, from shipwrights and swordsmiths to potters and glassblowers, call Rishiri home, and thousands of sailors grudgingly admit that it's "like home, but on land" as well. Enbetsu - The second largest city and provincial capital of Suo-Oshima, called the "Gateway to Dagaria", and also the theater capital of Dagaria. At an edge between culturally refined and rough and tumble, the city's always full of excitement. Preferably non-destructive excitement, since it's also the home of the feared and respected Shinsengumi. Whether they're a police force or just by far the largest gang in Suo-Oshima, and the one with royal authority, is a matter of perspective. Sweetwater - Zeon's currently designated capital grew out of a shantytown in the mountains of Tsuwano that housed many of the refugees from the old capital, Zum, and other cities that were destroyed during the Amestrian occupation. When Char became Prince, he moved his capital here, digging a new castle out of the mountainside and dragging the Zum Waypoint up the mountains into a new leyline nexus to solidify the town's importance. As well as allowing the "Prince of the people" to be closer to his subjects, Sweetwater is also far more defensible than any settlement directly on the coast would be, which helps make up for the inconvenience of being in a mountain valley. Zum - the ancestral capital of Tsuwano and Zeon, now officially abandoned along with many other cities after taking crippling damage during the Amestrian invasion and occupation. A Baoa Qu - a "guardian island" standing in the straits outside of the old port of Zum, it was taken over by the occupying Amestris forces shortly before Zeon's official surrender and renamed Zedan. The last climactic battle of both the initial war and the occupation took place around this island - in the latter case, a huge chunk of it was magically blasted into the sea by Zabi Loyalist forces, eliminating most of the Amestrian chain of command. Factions * Shinsengumi Provinces Controlled * Tsuwano * Suo-Oshima Notable Members *Char Aznable, Prince of Zeon *Celes Chere, General *Souji Okita, Captain of the Shinsengumi *Athrun Zala, the Red Knight *Sara Werec, Princess of Zeon *Cecil Harvey, Commander of the Red Wings *Roswell Branthèse, Riftguard contractor *Suo Deceased and Defected Members *Alte-Rose *Avshar Category:Kingdoms